Kathey: I’m sure most, if not all, of you know by now that Kathey Wheeler is in the hospital in intensive care. She and Danny returned from their trip to England and Ireland on the Monday night before Thanksgiving. On the following Wednesday she told me she didn’t feel well. Then the following Monday she said she felt awful. When I talked with her last Tuesday she told me she was headed for the emergency room. She was admitted and placed in intensive care where she has remained. She does have a full body infection with some form of strep.

I talk with Danny every day or two to get updates on her condition. I’ll keep you updated through the Missouri-l. Kathey’s address at the hospital is:

Medical Center of Independence
17203 East 23rd Street
Independence, Mo 64057

In the meantime Phyllis Lovett is acting President.

Good news! Kathey has been moved out of intensive care as of December 10. She is in a level care called Progressive Care. That is a level between Intensive Care and a regular room. They are beginning to give her regular food and starting physical therapy. She is still very uncomfortable with a lot of aches and soreness. She has a lot of pain in her right hip which they are going to do a scan on to see whether or not the strep has settled there. She remains on two IVs—one is a saline solution and the other is antibiotics. Her white blood count continues to be in the 21 to 25 thousand range. (Five to ten thousand is normal.) She is also having some swelling. She can walk to the bathroom with some assistance.

MCB Board meeting: Due to the absolutely terrible weather conditions, it was decided to cancel the MCB Board meeting scheduled for December 2. As it turned out it was a very wise decision. The decision as to when the meeting will be rescheduled will be made by December 15.

Clean carpets: The Building Committee decided to have the carpets in the building cleaned. To our knowledge, they have not been cleaned since MCB has owned the building. The Friday following Thanksgiving was the day chosen to have the cleaning done since the office was closed.

Christmas decorations: Tom decided to put up the Christmas tree in the large meeting room since that is where the recreational activities take place. He and Sharon trimmed the tree on Saturday after Thanksgiving. There are poinsettias on the tables and Santa Claus in the window. The wreath has also been hung on the front of the building.

Our hopes were that the room would look festive for the RITE Christmas party and December meeting; for the Board meeting on Saturday and for UWB’s game day on Sunday. However, as you may have guessed, all of those activities were cancelled due to the ice storm we had on November 30. Plans are to reschedule the two affiliate activities for December 8 and 10.

Office closing: Due to the ice storm we closed the office early on Thursday (about 2:30) and remained closed on Friday, December 1. Neither Sandi nor us were without electricity; however, some of our members were not so fortunate.

Loss of another member: On a sad note MCB lost another member. Bill Longinotti passed away on Monday, November 27. His funeral and burial were here in St. Louis on November 30 (in the midst of that terrible ice storm). Bill had been in a nursing home for about two months prior to his passing.

Bill was a member of RITE and then UWB later. When he and Mary moved to Rolla, they became members-at-large. Bill served as the chairman of the MCB Housing Committee when MCB owned the apartment building on Giles.

Bill and Mary have been long time friends of Tom and me. In fact, they stood up with us when we were married 47 years ago. I have always admired his determination and love for life despite his many challenges.

Grant proposal: Perhaps you may recall that I submitted a grant proposal to the AT&T Foundation last July for ten thousand dollars to be used for our Adaptive Technology Matching Grants Program. I received a notice stating that our request had been denied due to lack of funds. I believe I am correct in saying that I can apply again in 2007 if Missouri is one of the states listed for 2007.

December office closing: A reminder that the MCB office will be closed beginning with Christmas Day and will remain closed through New Year’s Day. It will be business as usual come Tuesday, January 2, 2007.

Updated membership lists: IMPORTANT! Affiliate updated membership lists are due here in the MCB office on or before February 1, 2007. This is for the purpose of updating our membership list that we must send to the ACB. This is also in accordance with our MCB Bylaws.

Please, please do not send old lists that have been added to, scratched through, etc. Please send us a clean copy of your membership list. If at all possible, please have them either typewritten or written on the computer. People’s handwriting is often very difficult to decipher. Of course, no dues are required at this time.

Calendars: The office is receiving calls for calendars from people who are members of affiliates. Be sure to check with your members to see if all of them have the large print 2007 calendar who need them. If they require mailing, mailing tubes can be purchased from office supply stores and they can be sent “free matter”.

Identifyable paper currency: Some of you know that I was invited to be interviewed on KMOX radio on Sunday, Dec. 3, regarding the need for identifiable paper currency. This came about as a result of a phone call I made to the radio station one morning when they were discussing this issue. An older woman called in and said she didn’t see a need for having identifiable paper currency as she never went out alone and she had a system for identifying her bills. Of course, I couldn’t let it go with just that being said, so I called in and was told they didn’t have time to let me be on the air at that time but did invite me to be interviewed on Sunday morning, December 3, at 9:35.

I would like to share with you my reflections on a phone call I received early this month from a retired Air Force Colonel who requested five of our calendars. Since he asked for more than two, I asked if the people he was going to give them to were visually-impaired. He hesitated and then said, “well, yes, but I can pay for them”. I proceeded to tell him that our primary concern was that the calendars be given to people who need them because of a visual impairment. Lying in bed reflecting on this call during one of my sleepless nights, I again realized how much of a capitalistic society we are. Somehow, we seem to think that as long as we can pay for something, need shouldn’t be a consideration.

When I think about one of our calendars being placed on the wall in the room of a nursing home resident and believing that it may be a factor in helping them to orient themselves to the world in which they live, I have to believe that we are making a small contribution to their quality of life.

Enjoy the holiday season with friends and loved ones. Pray for the health of MCB and, most of all, do pray for peace.